New Threats to UK Green Belt

Many areas of the UK remain under threat, including County Durham, Coventry, Oxfordshire and London, where planned developments have almost tripled in the last three years. As firm advocates of a green UK and with our specialist green roofing division, we are saddened by the news. In the construction industry, we are all aware of the serious issue of housing shortages and the need for new projects, but with planners appearing to be signing off Green Belt housing when there is brownfield land available, there is clearly an issue here that needs to be addressed.

The Government’s reform, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was introduced in 2012 and even recently the Prime Minister declared that Green Belt preservation is ‘paramount’, quoting that the development of Green Belt land was the lowest in 25 years, yet the NPPF findings show that more than 219,000 houses are planned for the UK Green Belt.

More alarmingly, the report also finds that planning inspectors have signed off Green Belt construction plans in areas where there is brownfield land available, such as in Leeds and Newcastle.

Paul Miner, campaign manager at the CPRE said, “Green Belt provides the countryside next door for 30 million people, as well as farmland that will become ever more valuable.”

“Ministers have quite rightly resisted the siren calls of some organisations to relax controls over development in the Green Belt. Yet, our new research shows that large scale development is already planned – despite existing protections, the availability of brownfield land and community objections. We need to strengthen Green Belt protection, not weaken it.”

“We welcome recent interventions made by Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, to address growing local threats to the Green Belt, but Government does not and cannot always prevent inappropriate and unnecessary development. Whoever forms the next Government must look to improve Green Belt protection and focus development behind the one million homes we could build on brownfield land – for the benefit of both town and country.”

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